Mortgage Rates Daily Commentary

Mortgage rates inch lower

Last week ended with more rate cuts. HSBC came out with rates at 4.49% (see here).

At the end of the day the ASB group of lenders also made cuts. Their key change is that it has matched the 4.69% which BNZ and Westpac have, but are using it on its one-year fixed rate rather than the two-year term.

OCR left at 5.25%

Wednesday, October 3rd 2001, 9:23AM

The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 5.25%.

"The outlook for the world economy, and the likely impact on New Zealand's economy and inflation, remain highly uncertain," Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash says. "It is clear that the global economic outlook has deteriorated since the awful events of September 11."

"We will inevitably feel some backwash from that, although our own economy appears to have been at least as robust before the attacks as we had previously expected.

"Our decision to cut the OCR by 50 basis points two weeks ago was a precautionary move that recognised the inevitable adverse effect and the likely impact on confidence.

"But how large those effects will be, and how long they will last, remains unclear. At this stage, it appears best to leave the OCR unchanged.

"We will have an opportunity for a fuller review of the outlook for economic activity and inflation, and the risks around that outlook, in our next Monetary Policy Statement, which will be released on November 14," Brash says.